Pit board 2010-04-27

WKA's Pit Board - 04.27.2010
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Haws, Pappa and Schilling race to 2 wins in Pavement Series opener
04.27.2010 - The WKA Vega Speedway Pavement Series opened its 2010
season last weekend with the Spring Nationals at North Carolina's...

WKA's Pit Board - 04.27.2010

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Haws, Pappa and Schilling race to 2 wins in Pavement Series opener

04.27.2010 - The WKA Vega Speedway Pavement Series opened its 2010
season last weekend with the Spring Nationals at North Carolina's OCR
Action Sports Park. The event attracted racers from all over the east
coast to the 0.700-mile OCR oval, a popular asphalt venue located about
15 miles north of Durham in Rougemont, N.C.

Three junior drivers wheeled their karts to a pair of national victories
at OCR. Brayton Haws continued his reign over the Sportsman 1 ranks in
WKA oval-track national competition. Haws won Briggs Sportsman 1 Lite
and Heavy at OCR - two weeks after the North Carolina driver won three
Sportsman 1 mains at the WKA Speedway Dirt Series national at Hurricane
(Ga.) Raceway. Five national wins in two weeks is quite a resume builder
for the young 10-year-old shoe.

New York's Matthew Pappa, a Pavement Series regular who raced on the
dirt at Daytona Int'l Speedway in December, captured Briggs Sportsman 2
Lite and Heavy for his first national wins of the season. Pappa won over
Brandon McGough in both features. The Spring Nationals marked McGough's
first WKA race in the Sportsman 2 ranks.

David Schilling, another New Yorker, drove to victory in Briggs Jr Heavy
and Briggs Jr Champ Raptor Final 1. Schilling, who also raced in the
Dirt Series opener at Daytona, drove his sleek 1-800-GOT-JUNK?-sponsored
karts to the pair of victories.

Tyler Gauthier won the 13-kart Briggs Medium main, which was the largest
class of the weekend. Gauthier beat out Russell Moore and Hank Branham
for the win to start off his Briggs Medium championship defense in fine
fashion.

Moore won Briggs Lite over Justin Fulmer. James Hayden raced to the
win in Briggs Heavy over Moore and Ryan Breithoff. The weekend marked
Hayden's and Breithoff's first national in the senior category.

Cameron Lovejoy traveled to North Carolina from Kennebunk, Maine,
and took the win in Saturday's Briggs Sportsman 1 Champ Lite. Dutch
Burkhead, out of Jay, Fla., denied Haws of a third win when he won the
Sportsman 1 Champ Heavy 20-lapper by just 0.262 seconds over Haws.

Michael Nolan got the win in Briggs Champ Lite over Tyler Robertson and
Chris Sorrell. Austin Banker dropped out on lap 1 of the Champ Lite
main but returned Sunday to win Champ Heavy over T. Robertson and Gavin
Soraghan.

Tyler Robertson did get a win on the weekend. The New York racer was
victorious in the first Champ Heavy Money Race, tagged the Friday Night
Shootout. T. Robertson won by two-tenths of a second over Breithoff.

Kenneth Jones won the weekend's other money race, the Box Stock
20-lapper for the Clone-powered karts. Ten karts started the competitive
main, and Jones crossed the stripe a mere 0.010 seconds ahead of Moore.
Kyle Long finished third.

Chris Hammett won Briggs Jr Lite over Brandon Weed. WKA Pavement and
Gold Cup racer Chase Dowling bagged his first national win of the season
in Briggs Jr Champ Lite. Patrick Robertson got the win in Jr Champ Heavy
by a tenth of a second over Dowling.

Zack Switzer drove to the victory over P. Robertson in Briggs Jr Champ
Raptor Final 2. The Jr Champ Raptor divisions are the only flathead
classes remaining on the Pavement tour in 2010.

A new class on the tour this year is Briggs Masters Champ for champ-kart
racers 35 years old and older. David Hardman won Masters Champ Final 1
while David Mumaw beat out Hardman to win Sunday's Masters Champ Final 2
affair.

A thank you goes out to all the Vega Pavement Series teams, officials,
family and fans who came out to OCR for the 2010 series opener. The
Pavement Series returns to the track June 25-27 for Round 2 of the
five-race tour. The 1-800-GOT-JUNK? Nationals will mark the first
national at Carolina Motorsports Park's asphalt tri-oval. The tour will
then hit the northern half of the country for events at Chapel Hill,
N.Y., New Castle, Ind., and Wampum, Pa.

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WKA Manufacturer's Cup Round 2 this weekend at MRP

04.27.2010 - The WKA George Kugler / Bridgestone Manufacturer's Cup
Series driven by Mazda returns to the track this weekend for the highly
anticipated MKP Nationals at Michiana Raceway Park in North Liberty,
Ind. The weekend marks the first Manufacturer's Cup event since Daytona
KartWeek in the final days of 2009. WKA's 2-cycle sprint racers, many
who have been busy competing in winter tours and the opening rounds
of 2010 WKA divisional series, will be eager to get back to national
competition at the demanding 11-turn course in northern Indiana.

The MKP Nationals should be another fine event for the Manufacturer's
Cup Series. Over 300 pre-entries from all over the U.S. have been
received, which nearly matches last year's pre-entry count for the MRP
national. The 2009 MKP Nationals saw a total of 538 entries, the best
turnout of the '09 season besides Daytona.

The track is open Thursday from 8 a.m. till 8 p.m. for pit pass sales
and parking. Pre-entry pickup is available from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday.

The track opens at 7 a.m. for the duration of the weekend. Registration
opens at 7 a.m. Friday while the on-track action gets under way at 9
a.m. when official practice commences.

Saturday and Sunday each feature a full slate of national competition.
Ten classes will go off each day after morning practice. Qualifying,
pre-finals and finals will follow. New Jersey Sprint Series Kid Kart
exhibitions will run during breaks throughout the weekend.

For MRP directions, area accommodations and other information, visit
www.michianaracewaypark.com.

For the weekend schedule and other information
on this weekend's MKP Nationals, go to
www.worldkarting.com/downloads/eb-2010/0430_mrp_mc.pdf .

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Ocala Gran Prix squad ready for MRP WKA Manufacturer's Cup

04.27.2010 - The Ocala Gran Prix / Tony Kart race team will make
their first trek out of the state of Florida in 2010 as the team will
travel to the second round of the World Karting Association (WKA)
Manufacturer's Cup program in northern Indiana. Competing at the MRP
of South Bend facility in South Bend, Indiana, OGP will enter five
pilots in an array of different divisions as well as be teamed with
Indianapolis-based Tony Kart dealer Indiana Racing Services.

Coming from California and Ocala Gran Prix's only senior competitor
will be 2009 Rotax World Finals DD2 podium finisher Cody Hodgson. The
talented teenager will compete in the Rotax Senior and TaG divisions at
the difficult South Bend facility utilizing an Ocala Gran Prix Rotax
powered Tony Kart in his first WKA action of the season.

Leading the junior ranks will be multi-time race winner and champion
Nick Neri. The Florida pilot, who has already claimed two championships
at the 2010 Florida Winter Tour, will look to keep his momentum rolling
in WKA action following a pair of wins at the opening round in December.
Neri will do battle in four separate divisions as he competes in both
Yamaha- and Komet-powered Tony Karts.

Joining Neri in the junior divisions will be another two drivers from
the Sunshine State as Andrew Evans and Jonathon Koytek will look to hit
the national scene. While both drivers compete in the WKA state series,
the Florida Karting Championship Series, the up and comers will head
to the national program to do battle with some of North America's best
drivers. Evans will compete in both the Yamaha Jr Lite and Jr Heavy
divisions while Koytek will battle in the Komet Jr Lite and Jr Heavy
classes.

Rounding out the five-kart OGP team will be female sportsman driver
Ashley Rogero. The talented driver is a front-runner in every class
that she enters and will be a force for multiple wins in South Bend.
Competing in the Cadet Jr Sportsman, Yamaha Sportsman and HPV Sportsman
classes, Rogero will run a total of five different classes as she looks
for race wins and points toward the end of the year championship.

"We have put together a quality team for the WKA program, and we are
heading to South Bend with the goal of winning," stated OGP's Jorge
Arellano. "We have five very good drivers and a crew with years of
experience that I like to call the 'A team.' I have no doubt that we
will be at the front of the pack."

Joining the Ocala Gran Prix squad under the team tent will be
Indianapolis-based Tony Kart dealer Indiana Racing Services. Taking
advantage of working with the knowledge base of a bigger team at a
national level race, Indy Racing Services will enter three competitors
for the weekend as they look to add to the Tony Kart success.

Leading the way for Indiana Racing Servies is 2009 WKA TaG Masters
champion John Dixon as he will compete in both TaG and TaG Masters.
Dixon is a talented Masters competitor and currently leads the TaG
Masters point championship after taking the opening round win in
Daytona.

Senior rookie Morgan Nelson will be Indy Racing Services's second
entrant as he will battle in the TaG Senior and Leopard Senior classes.
Fresh out of the junior divisions, Nelson ran the TaG class at the Great
Lakes Sprint Series event two weeks ago, claiming two second-place
results.

The third and final entrant from the Indy Racing Services team will be
team owner Mike Burrell. The runner-up in the 2009 WKA Yamaha Masters
championship will be back in the same division this season as he looks
to improve his position by one. Burrell will also compete in the TaG
Masters category and will utilize a Rotax powered Tony Kart in his
search for victory.

For more information on Ocala Grand Prix, OGP race team opportunities
and info on how to get into karting, visit Ocala Gran Prix online at
www.OcalaGranPrix.com.